Telangana Assembly election: Congress veterans, new faces jump into poll race

Hyderabad: Aggrieved at not being on the first list of candidates for Assembly seats released on Monday, several party leaders are quitting the party and some have announced they will contest as rebel candidates.

The Congress desperately hopes that its alliance, the Mahakutami, will propel it to power, but it is having to contend with its own disappointed leaders. In the seats allotted to its allies, the Congress members who expected to be named as candidates have decided to contest as rebels.

Some of these were potential candidates, while the resignations of others will not have any impact on the party. Though the rebels may not win, they can change the result.

Former Union minister Renuka Chowdary has said that seat allotments in Khammam district were not done properly, and an injustice was done to the Kamma community. 

In the first list of 65 candidates released by the Congress on Tuesday, many are old hands who were defeated in the previous election and are trying their luck in the forthcoming Telangana Assembly election. About 10 are new faces. 

All the sitting MLAs in the dissolved assembly were given tickets. Former ministers, former MPs, and present MLCs have also been given tickets. Two candidates have never been elected to the house.

Congress circles are surprised that senior partymen Ponnala Lakshmaiah, Marri Sashidhar Reddy, Gandra Venkata Ramana Reddy and some others have not been included in the first list. 

Congress sources said that the Sanathnagar assembly constituency represented by Marri Sashidhar Reddy in the past will most likely be given to the Telugu Desam, and the Jangaon assembly seat contested by Ponnala Lakshmaiah in the previous election is likely to be given to the Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS). TJS president K Kodandaram had reportedly wanted to contest from Jangaon, but in the latest development, the TJS has decided not to take the Jangaon seat and left it to the Congress, clearing the way for Ponnala Lakshmaiah to be given the seat. 

Mr Kodandaram belongs to the Reddy community and Mr Ponnala Lakshmaiah is from the BC community. Mr Kodandaram thought if he contests in Jangaon it will give the wrong signal to people that he has grabbed the BCs seat. 

Those who joined the Congress from other parties have also been given tickets. They are former minister Nagam Janardhan Reddy (Nagarkunool), A Revanth Reddy (Kodangal), Dasari Anasuya alias Seethakka (Mulugu), C. Vijaya Ramana Rao (Peddapalli), K.S. Ratnam (Chevella), Medipalli Satyam (Choppadandi), Rohit Reddy (Tandur), Konda Surekha (Parakala), and Vanama Venkateswar Rao (Kottagudem). 

Adi Srinivas was given the Vemulawada ticket and M.S. Raj Thakur was given the Ramagundam assembly ticket. Both have lost twice in assembly elections.

The 10 candidates contesting for the first time are Kambham Anil Kumar Reddy (Bhongir), Anil Kumar Yadav (Musheerabad), Janga Raghava Reddy (Palakurthy), S Indira (Station Ghanpur), Palvai Harish Babu (Sirpur), Rama Rao Patel (Mudhole), B Venkatesh (Chennur), and P Rohith Reddy (Tandur).There are also three fresh candidates in the Old City contesting for the first time.

MLCs Komatireddy Raja Gopal Reddy, Shabbier Ali and Akula Lalitha were given assembly tickets. Former Union ministers Sarvey Satya Narayana and P. Balaram Naik were also given tickets.